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College Football Playoff Rankings: Mississippi State Remains in the Top Ten

While everyone knew that Mississippi State would not hold a playoff spot this week, many eyes still found their way to the rankings as they may hold the answers to Mississippi State's post season plans.

The College Football playoff ranking committee has spoken, and Alabama remains the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation, followed by Oregon. Florida State continued its drop, finishing this week at No. 4  It also appears that TCU benefited the most from Mississippi State's loss to Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl as the Horned Frogs took over the third playoff spot.

Most importantly for Mississippi State, their ranking plays a large role in where the Bulldogs will go bowling.

One has to think that puzzle may have been solved now that the Bulldogs have fallen behind the Michigan State Spartans in the rankings.

With the Bulldogs holding the No. 10 ranking, this puts them behind he No. 8 Spartans, and with neither team having a game left, one would assume that Michigan State will stay ahead of the Bulldogs. Even if Mississippi State could leap over Michigan State, one has to wonder if No. 5 Ohio State would remain ahead of them, even with a loss in the Big Ten Championship.

Since the Orange Bowl bid for the opponent of the ACC representative goes to the highest-ranked non-champion from the Big Ten/SEC/Notre Dame, all appears set for the Spartans to make a trip to Miami.

Since Mississippi State is still in the top-ten, this all but assures them of a birth in either the Cotton, Fiesta, or Peach bowls.  Given the consideration of geography, at this point, one would assume the Bulldogs will travel to North Texas or Atlanta.

For SEC fans rooting for a team to play for the national championship, all hopes may rest on Alabama winning the SEC.  With Missouri ranked at No. 16, it is unlikely for them to jump into one of the top-four positions.

For more on the playoff, visit SBNation.com
Rank Team Last week Week 14 result Final opponent If the season ended today ...
1 Alabama (11-1) 1 Won 55-44 vs. No. 15 Auburn Missouri Sugar Bowl vs. Florida State
2 Oregon (11-1) 2 Won 47-19 at Oregon State Arizona Rose Bowl vs. TCU
3 TCU (10-1) 5 Won 48-10 at Texas Iowa State Rose Bowl vs. Oregon
4 Florida State (12-0) 3 Won 24-19 vs. Florida Georgia Tech Sugar Bowl vs. Alabama
5 Ohio State (11-1) 6 Won 42-28 vs. Michigan Wisconsin New Year's bowl
6 Baylor (10-1) 7 Won 48-46 vs. Texas Tech Kansas State New Year's bowl
7 Arizona (10-2) 11 Won 42-35 vs. No. 13 Arizona State Oregon New Year's bowl
8 Michigan State (10-2) 10 Won 34-10 at Penn State None Orange Bowl vs. Georgia Tech*
9 Kansas State (9-2) 12 Won 51-13 vs. Kansas Baylor New Year's bowl
10 Mississippi State (10-2) 4 Lost 31-17 at No. 19 Ole Miss None New Year's bowl
11 Georgia Tech (10-2) 16 Won 30-24 (OT) at No. 9 Georgia Florida State Orange Bowl vs. Michigan State
12 Ole Miss (9-3) 19 Won 31-17 vs. No. 4 Mississippi State None
13 Wisconsin (10-2) 14 Won 34-24 vs. No. 18 Minnesota Ohio State
14 Georgia (9-3) 9 Lost 30-24 (OT) vs. No. 16 Georgia Tech None
15 UCLA (9-3) 8 Lost 31-10 vs. Stanford None
16 Missouri (10-2) 17 Won 21-14 vs. Arkansas Alabama
17 Arizona State (10-2) 13 Lost 42-35 at No. 11 Arizona None
18 Clemson (9-3) 21 Won 35-17 vs. South Carolina None
19 Auburn (8-4) 15 Lost 55-44 at No. 1 Alabama None
20 Oklahoma (8-3) 20 Idle Oklahoma State
21 Louisville (9-3) 22 Won 44-40 vs. Kentucky None
22 Boise State (10-2) 23 Won 50-19 vs. Utah State Fresno State New Year's bowl
23 Utah (8-4) 25 Won 38-34 vs. Colorado None
24 LSU (8-4) NR Won 23-17 at Texas A&M None
25 USC (8-4) NR Won 49-14 vs. Notre Dame None